Portable communication devices, such as portable radios and remote speaker microphones, are often worn by individuals at various positions and angles via the use of a clip. Currently, available clip configurations do not address customers having a variety of wearing arrangement needs. For example, a portable communication device having a belt clip cannot readily be worn on a shoulder epaulette and vice versa.
Existing clip configurations are not capable of fitting, grasping or staying in place while attached to different pieces of clothing. In particular, today's swivel clip configurations are not suitable for products with aspect ratios (height/width) of much higher than one-to-one, thus products incorporating existing swivel clips tend to slide, tilt forward or turn sideways.
A communication device 100 having a prior art swivel clip configuration 102 is shown in various positions in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C. In FIG. 1A, swivel clip configuration 102 is shown in a default position and includes pivot portion 104, hinge 108 and paddle 110. While good clip performance can be obtained with the default position, problems arise when clip 102 is rotated beyond 30 degrees via pivot 104. FIG. 1B shows a back view of communication device 100 with clip 102 rotated 90 degrees. As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the resulting swivel position of a 90 degree rotation prevents the clip 102 from clipping to anything except air. Products incorporating this type of clip tend to move when the paddle is rotated off of its default position due to the paddle failing to grasp the garment (e.g. epaulet or belt) or article (e.g. strap on a briefcase, rear view mirror etc.).
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to have an improved clip for use with a portable communication device that can reliably grip a variety of different sized and shaped items throughout a 360 degree rotation.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.